Dreams of the Heart
by Usami
Summary: /SonicxNiGHTS crossover/ Even the most courageous soul has something to fear, and the most beautiful dream can be haunted with nightmares.


Happy Valentine's Day! Here's a little V-day gift for all those you happen to click on it.

This is actually one of two Sonamy ideas that I had a while back. I wrote this one because I felt it was easier to do as far as starting it (and it was still pretty difficult), and now that I've started it I'm hoping to feel committed enough to writing out the rest of it.

Considering all my other abandoned stories, we'll see how that goes.

Anyway, please go easy on me for this one. I had three other stories I wanted to get to so I could post them all up today, and so my brain got really tired. Not to mention all the little spelling or grammatical errors that are bound to pop up...I was in a bit of a hurry. Hopefully it's still okay despite the pressure I was feeling when I wrote it.

Considering this is a prologue, it's meant to be short, and it won't answer a lot of questions. I'm hoping to get to those when I actually write out the rest of it. Also, while it is a Sonic/NiGHTS crossover, you don't have to know much about NiGHTS to read this. I'm actually going to explain more about that within the story itself.

So yeah. Enjoy, and happy Valentine's Day!

**Dreams of the Heart**

"Sonic!"

Before he had a chance to react, he felt something crash into him from behind, and arms quickly wrapped around his neck. He stiffened, craning his head just enough to look back and get a glance of the pink quills.

"Amy!" the hero exclaimed. When her grip loosened a little, he turned to face her. "What are you doing here?"

She giggled, nuzzling her face in his chest. "I _do_ live in this city, y'know," she replied. "I was on my way home when I saw you heading here. So I followed you." She then looked up at him curiously. "But what are _you_ doing here, Sonic?"

The older hedgehog glanced briefly at the wooden gazebo behind him; sometimes musicians would come to the park and sit in the gazebo to play their instruments for any passerby to hear. But no one was there today. Turning back to the girl, he grinned. "What? I can't swing by Station Square for a visit?"

Amy smiled, embracing him tighter. "You're always welcome to visit _me_, Sonic," she said coyly.

He winced a little, taking a step back and hoping to untangle himself from her arms. "Amy…"

"Hey!" the girl piped in. "Are you busy right now, Sonic? I mean, are you doing anything?"

"Not really," he replied. He quickly realized his mistake when he saw the sparkle in her jade eyes.

"So…do you wanna do something together?" she continued, gently tugging on his arm. "We could see a movie, or get something to eat, or…"

"Amy," Sonic said sternly to get her attention. Clearing his throat, he placed his hands on her shoulders. "I've actually…gotta meet Tails in a little while."

"Oh…" With a small nod, she released him and took a step back, averting her eyes to the ground. "Okay…"

The azure teen sighed, placing his hands on his hips. It was strange how Amy could tug at his heartstrings. "Hey…" he said slowly, "maybe…some other time."

The pink hedgehog glanced up at him with hopeful eyes. "You mean it?" she wondered.

With a careless shrug, he grinned again. "Sure, I guess." After one last glance at the gazebo, the speedster gave a quick salute before disappearing in a flash of cobalt. "Later!"

Amy held down the skirt of her dress as the wind rushed around her, hurrying to catch the royal streak left behind. It only lasted for a moment, however; the flurry quickly settled and left an eerie calm in its wake.

It was only after the winds died down and she was sure Sonic was completely out of sight that she reached up to wipe away the tears in her eyes. Because she knew there would never be 'some other time.'

Releasing an unsteady breath, the pretty pink hedgehog trudged back to her apartment. It had been such a nice day, too, and she had been in such a pleasant mood. After her normal morning routine, she had gone to the mall and bought the cutest lip gloss. What she liked most about it was how it gave her lips a bit of color; subtle, but just noticeable enough to give her a rather sophisticated look. Or at least _she_ thought so.

Seeing Sonic heading into the park was an unexpected, but welcomed surprise. She hadn't seen him in such a long while, and she thought it was as good a time as ever to show him her new lip gloss. Surely he'd be impressed with how such a small thing made her look a little more mature without changing her completely.

Except Sonic hadn't noticed. And once again, he turned down an invitation to hang out, just the two of them. Even if she never called it a date anymore, he still refused to spend time with her if no one else was around. Perhaps she should have been used to the rejection by now.

But whenever he said no, a piece of her heart still managed to break.

She didn't notice how far she had walked until she opened the door of her apartment. Flipping on the light, she slammed the door behind her. Then she made a beeline for the small room across from the bedroom, hitting the switch to fill it with light.

When she first got the apartment, the room, originally meant to be a study, didn't get much use from her because she felt no need for one. When she began boxercising, though, she moved all her equipment into this room, and it made for a perfect training room.

Slowly Amy walked up to the punching bag that hung from the ceiling. She looked up at the black sandbag that towered over her, watching the object blur with the background as tears once again filled her eyes. Clenching her fists tighter, she swiftly punched the bag, sending it swinging away from her. As it swayed back, she punched it again and again, as hard as she could. Every once in a while she would kick it, and the punching bag would swing precariously on its hook.

Her mind began to drift as she pounded all her frustrations into the punching bag. With every punch, every kick into the sandbag, she focused all her pain into each attack. But why did it have to hurt so much? After all, she knew where he was heading, and it was easy to get there. If she really wanted to spend time with him, she could have gone after him. Before, she would have followed him and insisted they do something. If she really wanted to be with him, she wouldn't have given up as easily as she did.

But lately, she wondered…what was the point? No matter how hard she tried, Sonic never agreed to do something with her. No matter how long she followed him, no matter how many times she asked, no matter how much she wished otherwise…Sonic still said no.

Was the pain of not being with him worth the pain of hearing his rejection again and again?

With one last kick of the punching bag, Amy wiped the lingering tears with the back of her hand. As the bag swung back at her, she gripped it in her arms and leaned heavily against it, trying to catch her breath. Her heart pounded between her ears, drowning out any other sound.

It would always hurt. No matter what she did, it would always hurt as long as she kept this up. As long as she loved him, the pain would never go away.

* * *

Jumping off the tracks, Sonic dashed forward and landed on the plateau before running up the short steps. He came to an abrupt stop in front of the door, testing the knob to see if it was unlocked before heading inside.

"Tails?" he called, closing the door behind him. "You here?"

His ears twitched slightly as he listened for any sign of his younger friend. But nothing came, confirming that the fox was still out, just as he had been all day. Honestly, he didn't expect to see the fox until the next morning.

With a sigh, Sonic walked down the stairs to the lower level of the workshop, his mind drifting back to his encounter with Amy at the park. His heart drummed against his chest as he remembered her reaction to his lie, and he promised himself that he would make it up to her somehow. He had never lied to her before, and he certainly never wanted to hurt her like this.

So why did he lie to her? He racked his brain, but he couldn't find an answer. Desperation, maybe? He needed an excuse to leave, and that was the first thing that came to mind? He needed to make up a reason that he couldn't hang out with her?

No, that couldn't be it. In the past, he would have just told her as best as he could that he didn't want to go on what she could label as a 'date'. Movies, dinner, and the like that could typically be called 'romantic activities' would possibly give Amy a certain impression, and he would never want to lead her on like that. So he always used to be straight-forward and then run off when he had the chance.

But then why was it different this time? Why did he lie to her instead of just telling her no? And 'maybe some other time'? Where did _that_ come from?

Maybe he didn't want to hurt her feelings again? Maybe he thought if he gave her a reason why he couldn't hang out this time and promised another chance, she wouldn't be as upset as when he simply said no and ran away?

But giving her a false hope could hurt her worse, couldn't it? Giving her something to look forward to when it would never come could be more painful than just being honest with her. It was this kind of leading-on that he always tried to avoid in the past, so why now…?

Feeling around in the dark, Sonic finally found the light switch and flipped it on. Looking around, he noticed that Tails left the room pretty much untouched from the last time he was there. Not that he minded; it was nice to know his best friend wouldn't go through his things while he was away.

Heading for the bed, he knelt down and pulled out a black guitar case, opening it up and gently pulling out the instrument. Looking over it carefully, he realized he spoke too soon about Tails going through his things.

The kit was the only person who knew Sonic played the guitar. The last time Sonic was there, he played so long that one of the guitar strings snapped. He stopped playing after that and headed out the next day. During his absence, it seemed Tails took the time to replace the string.

Sonic smiled. Cool.

Closing the case and sliding it back under, he sat on his bed and tested each string, tuning certain ones that sounded a little off before finally strumming a few cords. Closing his eyes, he tried to think of the new song he wanted to write.

Truth be told, though he had played the guitar for a good part of his life, he was still new to the songwriting bit. He never really imagined himself as a writer, and normally he was too busy with his adventures to actually sit down and come up with a song. It was a time-consuming process, he heard, and it just wasn't really his thing. Or at least it never used to be. But recently, whenever he was back at Station Square and the Mystic Ruins…whenever he picked up his guitar, a new urge to make something took over his fingers, and words he didn't know filled his mind. He would strum, finger strings, write, think…and he would wonder just how much he could come up with before getting restless once again, before he would take off and leave the song unfinished.

Even though it wasn't done yet, it was still there in his mind; he just had to get it all out. And he wanted to hear it when it was finished…he wanted to see what kind of song he would create.

But now, all he could see was the park and Amy's face as she backed away from him.

With a frustrated sigh, Sonic opened his eyes again. Why was he still thinking about her? He couldn't write his song if he couldn't concentrate, and he couldn't concentrate if Amy wouldn't leave even his _thoughts_ alone.

Then again, it wasn't Amy's fault. After all, he had lied to her. Maybe this was just his conscience's way of getting back at him.

Looking down at the instrument he held, he slowly began fingering the strings. As he closed his eyes again, Amy's image as she stood in the park filled his vision once more – her normally bright eyes cast down and filled with tears, her cheerful smile replaced with a quivering frown…and as he played, the melody echoed in his ears, harmonized by the words of his lie.

He knew he had to make it up to her, and he _wanted_ to. But how could he? He didn't even know what he was doing anymore.

**TBC**


End file.
